Counting in German

If you want to ask how much something costs “Wie viel kostet das?” you need to know the German numbers, so that you’ll actually be able to understand the answer to your question.

Did you know that the German numbers are kind of backwards? Instead of saying twenty-two like in English you say two-and-twenty or nine-and-twenty for twenty-nine. It might feel strange to start with, but you will soon get the hang of it.

Check out this lesson on counting in German below!

Counting in German

Starting out: 0 to 35

null

0

eins

1

zwei

2

drei

3

vier

4

fünf

5

sechs

6

sieben

7

acht

8

neun

9

zehn

10

elf

11

zwölf

12

dreizehn

13

vierzehn

14

fünfzehn

15

sechzehn

16

siebzehn

17

achtzehn

18

neunzehn

19

zwanzig

20

einundzwanzig

21

zweiundzwanzig

22

dreiundzwanzig

23

vierundzwanzig

24

fünfundzwanzig

25

sechsundzwanzig

26

siebenundzwanzig

27

achtundzwanzig

28

neunundzwanzig

29

dreißig

30

einunddreißig

31

zweiunddreißig

32

dreiunddreißig

33

vierunddreißig

34

fünfunddreißig

35

Some numbers are also shortened to make them easier to pronounce. For example six is “sechs” in German, but sixteen is shortened to “sechzehn”. It’s just like in English where you say fifteen instead of “fiveteen”.